Methods and apparatus for directing the gaze of a user in an iris recognition  system

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure describes systems and methods for directing a gaze of a user to one of different locations or positions of an iris biometric acquisition system for accommodating different heights of individuals. A user attention device may be positioned behind a visibility limiting device, for use in guiding the gaze of the user and positioning an eye of the user with respect to the iris biometric acquisition system. The visibility limiting device may be configured to limit an angular field of view of the user attention device. A sensor may be positioned at, behind or adjacent to the visibility limiting device. The sensor may be configured to acquire imagery of an iris from the eye positioned using the user attention device and the visibility limiting device.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of, and claims priority to U.S.patent application Ser. No. 14/852,053, filed Sep. 11, 2015, whichclaims priority to and the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 62/049,724, filed Sep. 12, 2014. The entire contents ofthe foregoing are hereby incorporated herein by reference for allpurposes.

BACKGROUND

Biometric data such as iris information is used for user identificationand authentication. Biometric systems are designed to acquire images ofa user to obtain iris imagery. Such biometric systems typically includean image sensor to take a photo of the user's iris, eye, and/or face,and then perform image analysis to extract iris imagery from the photo.

SUMMARY

Some embodiments of the present invention relate generally toapparatuses, systems and methods for obtaining iris imagery by directingthe gaze of a user to different locations of an iris biometricacquisition or recognition system. Examples of these embodimentsaccommodate individuals of different heights and reduce or eliminateconfusion on the part of a user approaching and/or using the system.

In one embodiment, an apparatus for directing a gaze of a user todifferent predetermined or preconfigured locations of an irisacquisition system is disclosed. Such an integrated user interactionapparatus may comprise: a user attention component or device for a userto adjust the user's position for iris imagery acquisition; a visibilitylimiting module or device positioned in front of the user attentioncomponent such that the user attention device is visible or exposed tothe user at a first viewing angle and invisible (e.g., blocked, obscuredor not visible) to the user at a second viewing angle due to thestructure or functional configuration of the visibility limiting device;and/or a sensor or camera module configured to acquire iris imagery andpositioned within a distance of the visibility limiting device and theuser attention device.

In one aspect, the present disclosure describes a system for directing agaze of a user to one of different locations or positions of an irisbiometric acquisition system for accommodating different heights ofindividuals. The system may include a visibility limiting device. A userattention device may be positioned behind the visibility limitingdevice, the visibility limiting device configured to limit an angularfield of view of the user attention device. A sensor may be positionedat, behind or adjacent to the visibility limiting device. The sensor maybe configured to acquire imagery of an iris positioned using the userattention device and the visibility limiting device.

In some embodiments, the user attention device includes at least one ofa mirror or a graphical user interface display. The visibility limitingdevice may include at least one of a louver or a privacy film. Thesystem may include a first subsystem that comprises the visibilitylimiting device, the user attention device and the sensor, and a secondsubsystem that comprises a second visibility limiting device, a seconduser attention device and a second sensor. The first subsystem and thesecond subsystem may be vertically displaced with respect to each otherto accommodate different heights of individuals. The first subsystem andthe second subsystem may be vertically displaced with respect to eachother by between 4 inches to 12 inches, for example. In certainembodiments, the angular field of view of the user attention device ofthe first subsystem and an angular field of view of the second userattention device of the second subsystem overlap by a minimal to zeroamount at an operating distance of the iris biometric acquisitionsystem.

In some embodiments, the system includes an adjustment mechanism forcollectively moving the visibility limiting device, the user attentiondevice and the sensor to different height locations or positions. Thesystem may include a pivot mechanism for collectively tilting orrotating the visibility limiting device, the user attention device andthe sensor to different relative positions about a horizontal axis. Theangular field of view of the user attention device, limited by thevisibility limiting device, may in certain embodiments project upwardsat an angle above horizontal. The visibility limiting device may includea plurality of louvers oriented in a non-parallel fashion to pointtowards a preferred location for positioning a user's eye. In someembodiments, an angular field of view of the sensor overlaps with theangular field of view of the user attention device, limited by thevisibility limiting device.

In another aspect, the present disclosure describes an iris biometricacquisition system. The system may include a mirror to reflect an imageof an eye of a user towards the user. The system may include avisibility limiting device comprising at least one of a privacy film ora plurality of louvers, disposed between the user and the mirror tolimit an angular field of view of the mirror. The system may include animage sensor to acquire an image of the iris of the user when the irisis within the angular field of view of the mirror.

In some embodiments, the iris biometric acquisition system includes afirst subsystem that comprises the mirror, the visibility limitingdevice and the sensor, and a second subsystem that comprises a secondmirror, a second visibility limiting device and a second sensor. Thefirst subsystem and the second subsystem may be vertically displacedwith respect to each other to accommodate different heights ofindividuals.

In yet another aspect, the present disclosure describes a method fordirecting a gaze of a user to one of different locations or positions ofan iris biometric acquisition system for accommodating different heightsof individuals. The method may include limiting, by a visibilitylimiting device positioned between a user attention device and a user,an angular field of view of the user attention device. The visibilitylimiting device and the user attention device may provide guidance tothe user to position an iris of the user. A sensor, positioned adjacentto the visibility limiting device, may acquire imagery of the irispositioned in accordance with the guidance.

In certain embodiments, the user attention device includes at least oneof a mirror or a graphical user interface display. The visibilitylimiting device may include at least one of a louver or a privacy film.In some embodiments, an adjustment mechanism may move the visibilitylimiting device, the user attention device and the sensor collectively,to a first height position relative to the user. In certain embodiments,a pivot mechanism may tilt or rotate the visibility limiting device, theuser attention device and the sensor collectively, about a horizontalaxis, to a first position and/or orientation relative to the user.

It should be appreciated that all combinations of the foregoing conceptsand additional concepts discussed in greater detail below (provided suchconcepts are not mutually inconsistent) are contemplated as being partof the inventive subject matter disclosed herein. In particular, allcombinations of claimed subject matter appearing at the end of thisdisclosure are contemplated as being part of the inventive subjectmatter disclosed herein. It should also be appreciated that terminologyexplicitly employed herein that also may appear in any disclosureincorporated by reference should be accorded a meaning most consistentwith the particular concepts disclosed herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The skilled artisan would understand that the drawings primarily are forillustration purposes and are not intended to limit the scope of theinventive subject matter described herein. The drawings are notnecessarily to scale; in some instances, various aspects of theinventive subject matter disclosed herein may be shown exaggerated orenlarged in the drawings to facilitate an understanding of differentfeatures. In the drawings, like reference characters generally refer tolike features (e.g., functionally similar and/or structurally similarelements).

FIG. 1A is a block diagram illustrative of an embodiment of a networkedenvironment with a client machine that communicates with a server.

FIGS. 1B and 1C are block diagrams illustrative of embodiments ofcomputing machines for practicing the methods and systems describedherein.

FIG. 2A illustrates a side view of a user positioned in front of a topunit of a plurality of vertically displaced iris biometric acquisitionunits in one embodiment of an iris biometric acquisition system.

FIG. 2B shows components in one illustrative embodiment of an irisbiometric acquisition system comprising a plurality of verticallydisplaced iris biometric acquisition units each with cameras,illuminators, and a graphical user interface.

FIG. 3 illustrates a side view of a user positioned in front of themiddle unit of three vertically displaced iris biometric acquisitionunits in one embodiment of an iris biometric acquisition system.

FIG. 4 illustrates a side view of a user positioned in front of a lowerunit of three vertically displaced iris biometric acquisition devices inone embodiment of an iris biometric acquisition system.

FIG. 5 shows a profile (side) view of one embodiment of an integrateduser interaction device comprising a visibility-limiting device, amirror positioned behind the visibility-limiting device, and a sensorpositioned adjacent to both the visibility-limiting module and themirror, as well as showing a user viewing the integrated userinteraction module from a bottom, on-axis viewing angle.

FIG. 6 shows a profile (side) view of one embodiment of an integrateduser interaction device comprising a visibility-limiting module, amirror positioned behind the visibility-limiting device, and a sensor orcamera module positioned adjacent to both the visibility-limiting deviceand the mirror, as well as showing a user viewing the integrated userinteraction device from a middle, on-axis viewing angle.

FIG. 7 shows a side view of a camera field of view cone, a mirrorvisibility cone and a mirror reflectance cylinder for one illustrativeembodiment of a configuration of a plurality of integrated userinteraction devices displaced vertically from each other and oriented totilt upwards such that the user interaction devices are pointed in anon-horizontal direction.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrative of a method of directing a gaze ofa user for acquisition of iris data.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It should be appreciated that all combinations of the foregoing conceptsand additional concepts discussed in greater detail below (provided suchconcepts are not mutually inconsistent) are contemplated as being partof the inventive subject matter disclosed herein. In particular, allcombinations of claimed subject matter appearing at the end of thisdisclosure are contemplated as being part of the inventive subjectmatter disclosed herein. It should also be appreciated that terminologyexplicitly employed herein that also may appear in any disclosureincorporated by reference should be accorded a meaning most consistentwith the particular concepts disclosed herein.

For purposes of reading the description of the various embodimentsbelow, the following descriptions of the sections of the specificationand their respective contents may be helpful:

-   -   Section A describes a network environment and computing        environment which may be useful for practicing embodiments        described herein; and    -   Section B describes embodiments of systems and methods for        directing a gaze of a user for acquisition of iris data.

A. Network and Computing Environment

Before addressing specific embodiments of the present solution, adescription of system components and features suitable for use in thepresent systems and methods may be helpful. FIG. 1A illustrates oneembodiment of a computing environment 101 that includes one or moreclient machines 102A-102N (generally referred to herein as “clientmachine(s) 102”) in communication with one or more servers 106A-106N(generally referred to herein as “server(s) 106”). Installed in betweenthe client machine(s) 102 and server(s) 106 is a network.

In one embodiment, the computing environment 101 can include anappliance installed between the server(s) 106 and client machine(s) 102.This appliance can manage client/server connections, and in some casescan load balance client connections amongst a plurality of backendservers. The client machine(s) 102 can in some embodiment be referred toas a single client machine 102 or a single group of client machines 102,while server(s) 106 may be referred to as a single server 106 or asingle group of servers 106. In one embodiment a single client machine102 communicates with more than one server 106, while in anotherembodiment a single server 106 communicates with more than one clientmachine 102. In yet another embodiment, a single client machine 102communicates with a single server 106.

A client machine 102 can, in some embodiments, be referenced by any oneof the following terms: client machine(s) 102; client(s); clientcomputer(s); client device(s); client computing device(s); localmachine; remote machine; client node(s); endpoint(s); endpoint node(s);or a second machine. The server 106, in some embodiments, may bereferenced by any one of the following terms: server(s), local machine;remote machine; server farm(s), host computing device(s), or a firstmachine(s).

The client machine 102 can in some embodiments execute, operate orotherwise provide an application that can be any one of the following:software; a program; executable instructions; a virtual machine; ahypervisor; a web browser; a web-based client; a client-serverapplication; a thin-client computing client; an ActiveX control; a Javaapplet; software related to voice over internet protocol (VoIP)communications like a soft IP telephone; an application for streamingvideo and/or audio; an application for facilitating real-time-datacommunications; a HTTP client; a FTP client; an Oscar client; a Telnetclient; or any other set of executable instructions. Still otherembodiments include a client device 102 that displays application outputgenerated by an application remotely executing on a server 106 or otherremotely located machine. In these embodiments, the client device 102can display the application output in an application window, a browser,or other output window. In one embodiment, the application is a desktop,while in other embodiments the application is an application thatgenerates a desktop.

The computing environment 101 can include more than one server 106A-106Nsuch that the servers 106A-106N are logically grouped together into aserver farm 106. The server farm 106 can include servers 106 that aregeographically dispersed and logically grouped together in a server farm106, or servers 106 that are located proximate to each other andlogically grouped together in a server farm 106. Geographicallydispersed servers 106A-106N within a server farm 106 can, in someembodiments, communicate using a WAN, MAN, or LAN, where differentgeographic regions can be characterized as: different continents;different regions of a continent; different countries; different states;different cities; different campuses; different rooms; or anycombination of the preceding geographical locations. In some embodimentsthe server farm 106 may be administered as a single entity, while inother embodiments the server farm 106 can include multiple server farms106.

In some embodiments, a server farm 106 can include servers 106 thatexecute a substantially similar type of operating system platform (e.g.,WINDOWS NT, manufactured by Microsoft Corp. of Redmond, Wash., UNIX,LINUX, or SNOW LEOPARD.) In other embodiments, the server farm 106 caninclude a first group of servers 106 that execute a first type ofoperating system platform, and a second group of servers 106 thatexecute a second type of operating system platform. The server farm 106,in other embodiments, can include servers 106 that execute differenttypes of operating system platforms.

The server 106, in some embodiments, can be any server type. In otherembodiments, the server 106 can be any of the following server types: afile server; an application server; a web server; a proxy server; anappliance; a network appliance; a gateway; an application gateway; agateway server; a virtualization server; a deployment server; a SSL VPNserver; a firewall; a web server; an application server or as a masterapplication server; a server 106 executing an active directory; or aserver 106 executing an application acceleration program that providesfirewall functionality, application functionality, or load balancingfunctionality. In some embodiments, a server 106 may be a RADIUS serverthat includes a remote authentication dial-in user service. Someembodiments include a first server 106A that receives requests from aclient machine 102, forwards the request to a second server 106B, andresponds to the request generated by the client machine 102 with aresponse from the second server 106B. The first server 106A can acquirean enumeration of applications available to the client machine 102 andwell as address information associated with an application server 106hosting an application identified within the enumeration ofapplications. The first server 106A can then present a response to theclient's request using a web interface, and communicate directly withthe client 102 to provide the client 102 with access to an identifiedapplication.

Client machines 102 can, in some embodiments, be a client node thatseeks access to resources provided by a server 106. In otherembodiments, the server 106 may provide clients 102 or client nodes withaccess to hosted resources. The server 106, in some embodiments,functions as a master node such that it communicates with one or moreclients 102 or servers 106. In some embodiments, the master node canidentify and provide address information associated with a server 106hosting a requested application, to one or more clients 102 or servers106. In still other embodiments, the master node can be a server farm106, a client 102, a cluster of client nodes 102, or an appliance.

One or more clients 102 and/or one or more servers 106 can transmit dataover a network 104 installed between machines and appliances within thecomputing environment 101. The network 104 can comprise one or moresub-networks, and can be installed between any combination of theclients 102, servers 106, computing machines and appliances includedwithin the computing environment 101. In some embodiments, the network104 can be: a local-area network (LAN); a metropolitan area network(MAN); a wide area network (WAN); a primary network 104 comprised ofmultiple sub-networks 104 located between the client machines 102 andthe servers 106; a primary public network 104 with a private sub-network104; a primary private network 104 with a public sub-network 104; or aprimary private network 104 with a private sub-network 104. Stillfurther embodiments include a network 104 that can be any of thefollowing network types: a point to point network; a broadcast network;a telecommunications network; a data communication network; a computernetwork; an ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) network; a SONET(Synchronous Optical Network) network; a SDH (Synchronous DigitalHierarchy) network; a wireless network; a wireline network; or a network104 that includes a wireless link where the wireless link can be aninfrared channel or satellite band. The network topology of the network104 can differ within different embodiments, possible network topologiesinclude: a bus network topology; a star network topology; a ring networktopology; a repeater-based network topology; or a tiered-star networktopology. Additional embodiments may include a network 104 of mobiletelephone networks that use a protocol to communicate among mobiledevices, where the protocol can be any one of the following: AMPS; TDMA;CDMA; GSM; GPRS UMTS; 3G; 4G; or any other protocol able to transmitdata among mobile devices.

Illustrated in FIG. 1B is an embodiment of a computing device 100, wherethe client machine 102 and server 106 illustrated in FIG. 1A can bedeployed as and/or executed on any embodiment of the computing device100 illustrated and described herein. Included within the computingdevice 100 is a system bus 150 that communicates with the followingcomponents: a central processing unit 121; a main memory 122; storagememory 128; an input/output (I/O) controller 123; display devices124A-124N; an installation device 116; and a network interface 118. Inone embodiment, the storage memory 128 includes: an operating system,software routines, and a client agent 120. The I/O controller 123, insome embodiments, is further connected to a key board 126, and apointing device 127. Other embodiments may include an I/O controller 123connected to more than one input/output device 130A-130N.

FIG. 1C illustrates one embodiment of a computing device 100, where theclient machine 102 and server 106 illustrated in FIG. 1A can be deployedas and/or executed on any embodiment of the computing device 100illustrated and described herein. Included within the computing device100 is a system bus 150 that communicates with the following components:a bridge 170, and a first I/O device 130A. In another embodiment, thebridge 170 is in further communication with the main central processingunit 121, where the central processing unit 121 can further communicatewith a second I/O device 130B, a main memory 122, and a cache memory140. Included within the central processing unit 121, are I/O ports, amemory port 103, and a main processor.

Embodiments of the computing machine 100 can include a centralprocessing unit 121 characterized by any one of the following componentconfigurations: logic circuits that respond to and process instructionsfetched from the main memory unit 122; a microprocessor unit, such as:those manufactured by Intel Corporation; those manufactured by MotorolaCorporation; those manufactured by Transmeta Corporation of Santa Clara,Calif.; the RS/6000 processor such as those manufactured byInternational Business Machines; a processor such as those manufacturedby Advanced Micro Devices; or any other combination of logic circuits.Still other embodiments of the central processing unit 122 may includeany combination of the following: a microprocessor, a microcontroller, acentral processing unit with a single processing core, a centralprocessing unit with two processing cores, or a central processing unitwith more than one processing core.

While FIG. 1C illustrates a computing device 100 that includes a singlecentral processing unit 121, in some embodiments the computing device100 can include one or more processing units 121. In these embodiments,the computing device 100 may store and execute firmware or otherexecutable instructions that, when executed, direct the one or moreprocessing units 121 to simultaneously execute instructions or tosimultaneously execute instructions on a single piece of data. In otherembodiments, the computing device 100 may store and execute firmware orother executable instructions that, when executed, direct the one ormore processing units to each execute a section of a group ofinstructions. For example, each processing unit 121 may be instructed toexecute a portion of a program or a particular module within a program.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 121 can include one or moreprocessing cores. For example, the processing unit 121 may have twocores, four cores, eight cores, etc. In one embodiment, the processingunit 121 may comprise one or more parallel processing cores. Theprocessing cores of the processing unit 121 may in some embodimentsaccess available memory as a global address space, or in otherembodiments, memory within the computing device 100 can be segmented andassigned to a particular core within the processing unit 121. In oneembodiment, the one or more processing cores or processors in thecomputing device 100 can each access local memory. In still anotherembodiment, memory within the computing device 100 can be shared amongstone or more processors or processing cores, while other memory can beaccessed by particular processors or subsets of processors. Inembodiments where the computing device 100 includes more than oneprocessing unit, the multiple processing units can be included in asingle integrated circuit (IC). These multiple processors, in someembodiments, can be linked together by an internal high speed bus, whichmay be referred to as an element interconnect bus.

In embodiments where the computing device 100 includes one or moreprocessing units 121, or a processing unit 121 including one or moreprocessing cores, the processors can execute a single instructionsimultaneously on multiple pieces of data (SIMD), or in otherembodiments can execute multiple instructions simultaneously on multiplepieces of data (MIMD). In some embodiments, the computing device 100 caninclude any number of SIMD and MIMD processors.

The computing device 100, in some embodiments, can include an imageprocessor, a graphics processor or a graphics processing unit. Thegraphics processing unit can include any combination of software andhardware, and can further input graphics data and graphics instructions,render a graphic from the inputted data and instructions, and output therendered graphic. In some embodiments, the graphics processing unit canbe included within the processing unit 121. In other embodiments, thecomputing device 100 can include one or more processing units 121, whereat least one processing unit 121 is dedicated to processing andrendering graphics.

One embodiment of the computing machine 100 includes a centralprocessing unit 121 that communicates with cache memory 140 via asecondary bus also known as a backside bus, while another embodiment ofthe computing machine 100 includes a central processing unit 121 thatcommunicates with cache memory via the system bus 150. The local systembus 150 can, in some embodiments, also be used by the central processingunit to communicate with more than one type of I/O device 130A-130N. Insome embodiments, the local system bus 150 can be any one of thefollowing types of buses: a VESA VL bus; an ISA bus; an EISA bus; aMicroChannel Architecture (MCA) bus; a PCI bus; a PCI-X bus; aPCI-Express bus; or a NuBus. Other embodiments of the computing machine100 include an I/O device 130A-130N that is a video display 124 thatcommunicates with the central processing unit 121. Still other versionsof the computing machine 100 include a processor 121 connected to an I/Odevice 130A-130N via any one of the following connections:HyperTransport, Rapid I/O, or InfiniBand. Further embodiments of thecomputing machine 100 include a processor 121 that communicates with oneI/O device 130A using a local interconnect bus and a second I/O device130B using a direct connection.

The computing device 100, in some embodiments, includes a main memoryunit 122 and cache memory 140. The cache memory 140 can be any memorytype, and in some embodiments can be any one of the following types ofmemory: SRAM; BSRAM; or EDRAM. Other embodiments include cache memory140 and a main memory unit 122 that can be any one of the followingtypes of memory: Static random access memory (SRAM), Burst SRAM orSynchBurst SRAM (BSRAM); Dynamic random access memory (DRAM); Fast PageMode DRAM (FPM DRAM); Enhanced DRAM (EDRAM), Extended Data Output RAM(EDO RAM); Extended Data Output DRAM (EDO DRAM); Burst Extended DataOutput DRAM (BEDO DRAM); Enhanced DRAM (EDRAM); synchronous DRAM(SDRAM); JEDEC SRAM; PC100 SDRAM; Double Data Rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM);Enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM); SyncLink DRAM (SLDRAM); Direct Rambus DRAM(DRDRAM); Ferroelectric RAM (FRAM); or any other type of memory. Furtherembodiments include a central processing unit 121 that can access themain memory 122 via: a system bus 150; a memory port 103; or any otherconnection, bus or port that allows the processor 121 to access memory122.

One embodiment of the computing device 100 provides support for any oneof the following installation devices 116: a CD-ROM drive, a CD-R/RWdrive, a DVD-ROM drive, tape drives of various formats, USB device, abootable medium, a bootable CD, a bootable CD for GNU/Linux distributionsuch as KNOPPIX®, a hard-drive or any other device suitable forinstalling applications or software. Applications can in someembodiments include a client agent 120, or any portion of a client agent120. The computing device 100 may further include a storage device 128that can be either one or more hard disk drives, or one or moreredundant arrays of independent disks; where the storage device isconfigured to store an operating system, software, programsapplications, or at least a portion of the client agent 120. A furtherembodiment of the computing device 100 includes an installation device116 that is used as the storage device 128.

The computing device 100 may further include a network interface 118 tointerface to a Local Area Network (LAN), Wide Area Network (WAN) or theInternet through a variety of connections including, but not limited to,standard telephone lines, LAN or WAN links (e.g., 802.11, T1, T3, 56 kb,X.25, SNA, DECNET), broadband connections (e.g., ISDN, Frame Relay, ATM,Gigabit Ethernet, Ethernet-over-SONET), wireless connections, or somecombination of any or all of the above. Connections can also beestablished using a variety of communication protocols (e.g., TCP/IP,IPX, SPX, NetBIOS, Ethernet, ARCNET, SONET, SDH, Fiber Distributed DataInterface (FDDI), RS232, RS485, IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b,IEEE 802.11g, CDMA, GSM, WiMax and direct asynchronous connections). Oneversion of the computing device 100 includes a network interface 118able to communicate with additional computing devices 100′ via any typeand/or form of gateway or tunneling protocol such as Secure Socket Layer(SSL) or Transport Layer Security (TLS), or the Citrix Gateway Protocolmanufactured by Citrix Systems, Inc. Versions of the network interface118 can comprise any one of: a built-in network adapter; a networkinterface card; a PCMCIA network card; a card bus network adapter; awireless network adapter; a USB network adapter; a modem; or any otherdevice suitable for interfacing the computing device 100 to a networkcapable of communicating and performing the methods and systemsdescribed herein.

Embodiments of the computing device 100 include any one of the followingI/O devices 130A-130N: a keyboard 126; a pointing device 127; mice;trackpads; an optical pen; trackballs; microphones; drawing tablets;video displays; speakers; inkjet printers; laser printers; anddye-sublimation printers; or any other input/output device able toperform the methods and systems described herein. An I/O controller 123may in some embodiments connect to multiple I/O devices 103A-130N tocontrol the one or more I/O devices. Some embodiments of the I/O devices130A-130N may be configured to provide storage or an installation medium116, while others may provide a universal serial bus (USB) interface forreceiving USB storage devices such as the USB Flash Drive line ofdevices manufactured by Twintech Industry, Inc. Still other embodimentsinclude an I/O device 130 that may be a bridge between the system bus150 and an external communication bus, such as: a USB bus; an AppleDesktop Bus; an RS-232 serial connection; a SCSI bus; a FireWire bus; aFireWire 800 bus; an Ethernet bus; an AppleTalk bus; a Gigabit Ethernetbus; an Asynchronous Transfer Mode bus; a HIPPI bus; a Super HIPPI bus;a SerialPlus bus; a SO/LAMP bus; a FibreChannel bus; or a SerialAttached small computer system interface bus.

In some embodiments, the computing machine 100 can execute any operatingsystem, while in other embodiments the computing machine 100 can executeany of the following operating systems: versions of the MICROSOFTWINDOWS operating systems; the different releases of the Unix and Linuxoperating systems; any version of the MAC OS manufactured by AppleComputer; OS/2, manufactured by International Business Machines; Androidby Google; any embedded operating system; any real-time operatingsystem; any open source operating system; any proprietary operatingsystem; any operating systems for mobile computing devices; or any otheroperating system. In still another embodiment, the computing machine 100can execute multiple operating systems. For example, the computingmachine 100 can execute PARALLELS or another virtualization platformthat can execute or manage a virtual machine executing a first operatingsystem, while the computing machine 100 executes a second operatingsystem different from the first operating system.

The computing machine 100 can be embodied in any one of the followingcomputing devices: a computing workstation; a desktop computer; a laptopor notebook computer; a server; a handheld computer; a mobile telephone;a portable telecommunication device; a media playing device; a gamingsystem; a mobile computing device; a netbook, a tablet; a device of theIPOD or IPAD family of devices manufactured by Apple Computer; any oneof the PLAYSTATION family of devices manufactured by the SonyCorporation; any one of the Nintendo family of devices manufactured byNintendo Co; any one of the XBOX family of devices manufactured by theMicrosoft Corporation; or any other type and/or form of computing,telecommunications or media device that is capable of communication andthat has sufficient processor power and memory capacity to perform themethods and systems described herein. In other embodiments the computingmachine 100 can be a mobile device such as any one of the followingmobile devices: a JAVA-enabled cellular telephone or personal digitalassistant (PDA); any computing device that has different processors,operating systems, and input devices consistent with the device; or anyother mobile computing device capable of performing the methods andsystems described herein. In still other embodiments, the computingdevice 100 can be any one of the following mobile computing devices: anyone series of Blackberry, or other handheld device manufactured byResearch In Motion Limited; the iPhone manufactured by Apple Computer;Palm Pre; a Pocket PC; a Pocket PC Phone; an Android phone; or any otherhandheld mobile device. Having described certain system components andfeatures that may be suitable for use in the present systems andmethods, further aspects are addressed below.

B. Directing a Gaze of a User for Acquiring Biometric Images

Referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B, example embodiments of a system fordirecting a gaze of a user for acquisition of iris data is depicted. Asshown, an iris biometric acquisition system may acquire imagery of aniris using one or more cameras or image sensors, such as charge-coupleddevice (CCD) or complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) arrays,for instance. The one or more cameras or image sensors may comprise asensor operating in the infra-red region for biometric acquisition,and/or in the visible light region in some embodiments. An irisbiometric acquisition system is sometimes referred to as an irisrecognition system. In some embodiments, the gaze of a user is directedto one of a plurality of predetermined or preconfigured locations of aniris biometric acquisition system, the plurality of predetermined orpreconfigured locations provided in order to accommodate differentheights of individuals. The system directs the gaze of the user whileavoiding confusion of the user arising from the multiple locations towhich the user can direct the gaze. For example, conventionally andwithout use of the integrated user interaction device described below, amirror (or other device) may be positioned on an iris recognition systemto aid in positioning the user. The user can then be asked to (1) findthe mirror and (2) move so their eyes are reflected in the mirror. Ifthe user can observe their eyes in the mirror, and if the mirror heightis within the camera field of view cone at the operating distance of theiris recognition device, then an image of the iris of the user may beacquired using at least one of the cameras (image sensors).

However, positioning the eyes relative to the system is often confusingfor a user since even when the eyes are not present in the camera fieldof view, the mirror would still appear bright and reflective to attractthe gaze of the user, so that the user focuses on content of a scenereflected off the mirror, which may be small, to determine whether theireyes are present in the reflected view and therefore within the camerafield of view. The problem is made even worse if multiple iris biometricacquisition camera units are positioned above each other, e.g., in orderto accommodate individuals of different heights. In this case, theindividual may observe three bright and reflective surfaces for guidingpositioning of the user relative to each of the camera units, but do notknow which one to focus on. This is exacerbated even further when theiris biometric acquisition units are tilted from the horizontal, so thateach camera field of view is not parallel to the user's direction ofapproach, so that a mirror that appears to be the correct height may infact be pointing up for instance, and too high for the user to centerupon, resulting in the user having to reposition the user's eyes to amirror on a lower device. These hurdles to device usage increase thenumber of steps a user has to perform when using the iris recognitionsystem. They also increase the potential for confusion and thereforeunnecessarily require a longer time for device-usage. This reducesthroughput of the iris recognition device, which may be used at ahigh-throughput location such as a turnstile location, for example.

The iris-recognition apparatuses, systems, and methods disclosed hereinaddresses these problems in several aspects. A first feature maycomprise an integrated user interface module that comprises a camerasensor, a visibility-limiting device (e.g., device 104 in FIG. 2A)positioned in front of a mirror (e.g., mirror 102). The integrated userinterface module may for example limit the visibility of the mirror atleast from a top and a bottom viewing angle (e.g., to a user of mediumheight), and allows visibility of the mirror in a middle viewing angle(e.g., a larger proportion of mirror is visible or exposed at 106 a, anda lower proportion of mirror is visible at 106 b or 106 c). The middleviewing angle in some embodiments may be smaller than the field of viewof the iris biometric acquisition camera(s) for that unit of the irisrecognition system at a certain operating distance. The visibilitylimiting device may also limit the visibility of other user attentionfacility for the user to adjust his or her position, such as using agraphical user interface (GUI) display, indicator or illuminator 209 asshown in FIG. 2B, in the same way that visibility of the reflection offthe mirror is limited. This also reduces confusion to the user since thefeedback from the display or indicator becomes (e.g., may only be)visible when the user is within the operating cone of the device.

The integrated user-interaction device may be configured in severalembodiments. In a first embodiment, one user interaction device may bepositioned on a pivot and/or on a mirror that can rotate in unison withthe sensor or camera module. A user or other mechanism can then pivotthe module, and the user observes a bright reflective surface when theintegrated user-interaction device is positioned in the middle viewingangle cone (e.g., for a medium height user), and not above the topviewing angle or below the viewing angle. In another embodiment, theuser interaction device is positioned on a vertically-oriented mechanismthat moves up and down either automatically or manually. A user or othermechanism can then adjust the height of the user interaction device, andthe user observes a bright reflective surface or alignment indicatorwhen the integrated user-interaction device is moved to a height alignedwith the user's eye. In a further embodiment, the user interactiondevice may be duplicated vertically to provide multiple instances forinstance, to accommodate the varying heights of individuals, as shown inthe three units positioned relative to each other in FIG. 2A (e.g., see201, 202 and 203). In FIG. 2A, the user has a height of approximately 6′by way of illustration, while in FIGS. 3 and 4 the users have heights ofapproximately 5′6″ (medium height) and 5′0″ (lower height),respectively, for example. In FIG . 2A, due to the visibility limitingdevice, the mirrors in the bottom two devices (e.g., 202, 203) arelargely blocked or not visible to the user, yet the mirror at the topmodule (e.g., 101) is visible even if the user's eyes are not yetreflected in the mirror as the user approaches the system. The user istherefore not confused about which device to center or position theuser's eyes against. And as the user approaches the system, the user mayfocus on the upper/top device for example, which is at leastapproximately aligned with the height of the user's eye. In FIG. 3, onthe other hand, the user with a height of approximately 5′6″ mayprimarily see the mirror system on the middle unit (e.g., 301), ratherthan the other mirrors at different heights. Similarly, FIG. 4illustrates that a user with a height of approximately 5′0″ mayprimarily see and align with the mirror of the bottom unit (e.g., 401).

One embodiment of a multi-unit configuration is illustrated in FIG. 7,where each unit is tilted upwards at an angle. This means that the eyesof a user may not intersect with any of the mirror visibility cones at afar distance from the device, which means that the user may not beconfused by observing multiple bright reflective mirrors at a distance,such confusion leaving the user unsure of which one is the target mirrorin which the user should locate the user's eye. As the user gets closerto the units, depending on the height of the eye, the eye can at leastpartially intersect with or enter one of the mirror visibility cones. Atthat point, the user partially sees one bright reflective mirror (andnot the others), and therefore should have no confusion that the user isto position himself/herself further using that mirror alone. As the userfurther approaches the system, the user can position the user's eyes sothat the user sees the eyes' reflections in that particular mirror,without any confusing visibility of other bright reflective surfaces ofadjacent mirrors due to the mirrors' visibility limiting modules.

FIG. 2B shows an embodiment of a system for directing the gaze of a userfor acquisition of iris data. The illustrated system may be part of aniris biometric acquisition system. The system may include multiplesub-systems, each including one or more of a camera 202, a GUIilluminator 209, and IR illuminator 208, an eye detection unit 205, anillumination control unit 207, an iris recognition processor 206, or adatabase 219, for instance. Each subsystem may share some of theseelements, and/or have redundant/duplicate instances of certain elements.Each of the above-mentioned elements or entities is implemented inhardware, or a combination of hardware and software, in one or moreembodiments. For instance, each of these elements or entities couldinclude any application, program, library, script, task, service,process or any type and form of executable instructions executing onhardware of the system, in one or more embodiments. The hardwareincludes circuitry such as one or more processors, for example, asdescribed above in connection with at least 1B and 1C, in one or moreembodiments.

In some embodiments, the user may position himself/herself in one of thecamera fields of view using the user interaction modules working inconjunction with each other, and may be configured so that there may belittle to no overlap between the mirror visibility cones betweenadjacent iris recognition modules at the operating distance of thedevice. This may prevent confusion for the user in determining whichdevice is appropriate to use for the user's height. The mirrorvisibility systems 301 may be configured so that they are verticallydisplaced from each other at a distance of approximately 6″ forinstance, to accommodate different ranges of heights that account fordifferent heights of individuals.

Images may be acquired by the camera 202 a-b and the acquired images maythen be processed to perform eye detection and iris recognition. Anexample eye finding or detection process may include detecting thecircular pupil/iris boundary and the iris/sclera boundary using an eyedetection processor 205 that performs a Hough transform on the acquiredimage, e.g., as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,069,654, which is herebyincorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The eye detectionprocessor 205 passes a representation of the detected eye to an irisrecognition processor 206, which recovers the iris data from thedetected eye, encodes the recovered iris data, and compares the encodeddata to previously encoded iris data or templates stored in a database219. One or more examples of an iris recognition processor 206 and theprocess(es) executed by the iris recognition processor 206 are describedin U.S. Pat. No. 5,291,560 to Daugman, which is hereby incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety. The results of the eye detectionand iris recognition modules may be transmitted to an illuminationcontrol module 207, that may control one or more illuminators 208 and/ora graphical user interface (GUI) display 209, such as a liquid crystaldisplay (LCD) with a touchscreen interface, that may be positioned infront of, behind, or beside the visibility-limiting module.

In some embodiments, other visibility limiting modules may be used inplace of the louvers described in this specification. For example,thin-film privacy filters or panels, such as those produced by 3M, maybe used, including the louvered privacy films disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.3,524,789, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.

FIG. 5 shows a component of an example iris biometric acquisitionsystem. It shows a profile view of the integrated user interactiondevice comprising a camera, the visibility limiting device 501, and amirror positioned behind the visibility limiting device. In thisparticular embodiment, the visibility limiting device 501 compriseslouvers of height H with separation S. From geometry, FIG. 5 shows thatat a viewing angle Theta (503) of arcTan(S/H), the mirror 502 may not bevisible to the user. In order to enhance the properties of thevisibility limiting module, the louvers may be matte-colored and/ordark-colored to avoid reflection of light off the mirror, and/or off thelouvers, and into the user's eyes.

FIG. 6 shows a similar profile view. Here, there is an on-axis viewingangle of zero such that the mirror is almost fully visible. In oneembodiment, the louvers are oriented so that they are non-parallel, andare configured to be all oriented to point towards a single point at thepreferred operating distance for the user for that module (601) of thesystem. Since the user is relatively close to the visibility limitingmodule (601), then the perspective projection view of the sides of thelouvers, if the louvers are parallel to each other particularly at thetop and bottom portions of the visibility limiting module (601) canreduce the percentage of mirror that is visible to the user. A preferredpercentage of mirror (602) that is not visible at the desired on-axisviewing angle has been found to be less than 5%, or the obstruction ofthe mirror becomes distracting to the user as the user locates theuser's eyes from the reflection. For example, if the thickness of thelouvers is Th and the separation is S, then the proportion of the mirrorthat is not visible is Th/S (e.g., assuming that S is measured from thecenters of adjacent louvers). In one embodiment S may be 0.1″, and Thmay be 0.001″, which results in a percentage of mirror of 1% that is notvisible, which is within the acceptable preferred limit described above.

FIG. 7 shows in more detail the camera viewing cone, the mirror viewingcylinder, and the mirror visibility cone. The camera viewing cone (701)is defined by the properties of the camera and lens module used in theuser interaction module. In some configurations, it may range from 30degrees to 5 degrees. The height of the mirror viewing cylinder (e.g.,the mirror reflectance column 703) is defined by the height M of themirror since it defines the region in which a user can see the user'seyes due to direct reflection off the mirror. The mirror visibility cone702 is defined by the angle Theta, θ (described earlier in thisspecification) and the range R of the user, such that from geometry, thedistance D that a portion of the mirror can be seen is given by D=2R tanθ. In some embodiments, the width M of the mirror visibility cylindermay be less than the width D of the mirror visibility cone. This meansthat a particular mirror may be observed to be at least partially brightand reflective to the user as they approach, as a means to attract theuser to that particular mirror and so that they can then subsequentlyposition themselves more precisely within the mirror visibility cylinderso that they can see the reflection of their eyes.

The mirror, the visibility-limiting device and the sensor together mayform an integrated device with interdependent functionality, as shown inFIG. 7. The sensor may be positioned either at the position of themirror (e.g., with the mirror being reflective in the visible spectrumbut transparent in the infra-red spectrum) or such that the distancebetween the mirror and the sensor subtends an angle to the user's eyethat is less than a threshold. If the subtended angle is below thethreshold, then as the user is approaching the integrated device withthe aim of locating the user's eyes in the mirror, then the perspectivedistortion of the iris image captured by the camera by the off-angleview of the iris may be sufficiently small such that the performance ofsubsequent processing, that may expect an on-angle view of the iris, isunaffected. In addition, if the subtended angle is below a threshold,then there is a reduced probability, compared to the case of a subtendedangle being above the threshold, of the image of the iris acquired bythe sensor being obscured by eyelashes of the eye in front of the iris.Further, if the subtended angle is below the threshold then an eyedetector, which in some embodiments in a complete system is an initialstep in processing, can be presented with a frontal view of the eye andcan operate more optimally in detecting the eye, using for example thedetection of the shapes of the pupil/iris and iris/sclera boundariesthat are circular when presented in an on-axis view to a sensor. Anexample eye finding process to detect the circular pupil/iris boundaryand the iris/sclera boundary using a Hough transform, is described inU.S. Pat. No. 3,069,654, which is incorporated herein by reference. Apreferred subtended angle threshold may be 25 degrees, for instance.

Regarding the visibility-limiting device, one of its functions is toencourage the user to reduce the user's off-axis gaze angle with respectto the perpendicular axis of the mirror since the bright reflectivesurface is not visible to the user at large off-axis angles andtherefore it is an incentive for the user to move until they do seesomething bright and reflective, even if the reflection of the eyes arenot yet visible to the user in the mirror. In conjunction with thisfunction of the visibility-limiting device, if the displacement betweenthe mirror and the sensor is such that it subtends an angle to theuser's eye that is less than a threshold as has been described above,then the camera sensor can be able to perform eye detection even beforetheir eyes are positioned on-axis to the mirror since the view of theiris would be primarily frontal to the camera axis and therefore optimalfor eye detection, as described above. This functionality is possible ifthere is overlap of at least part of the camera field of view cone withthe mirror visibility cone as shown in FIG. 7. Such eye detection evenbefore the user has positioned the eyes directly on-axis to the mirrormay be useful in order to modify the GUI feedback to provideinstructions to the user that the user is moving in the correct or wrongdirection for example, or to provide sufficient advance time to adjustthe brightness of the illumination to ensure the illumination is at anoptimal brightness level by the time the user has reached the on-axisview of the mirror in order to avoid delays in system performance andthe latency in the user's experience.

Referring now to FIG. 8, one embodiment of a method for directing a gazeof a user to one of different locations or positions of an irisbiometric acquisition system for accommodating different heights ofindividuals is depicted. The method includes limiting, by a visibilitylimiting device positioned between a user attention device and a user,an angular field of view of the user attention device (801). Thevisibility limiting device and the user attention device provideguidance to the user to position an iris of the user (803). A sensor,positioned adjacent to the visibility limiting device, acquires imageryof the iris positioned in accordance with the guidance (805).

In some aspects, an iris biometric acquisition system may include orprovide a number of different locations or positions to accommodatingindividuals with different heights. Rather than requiring a user toextend or lower himself/herself, to position the user's eyes withrespect to one or a fixed position and/or orientation of the irisbiometric acquisition system, the system may for instance be adjustableto different locations or positions, including orientations. In someembodiments, the system may have a number of predetermined locations orpositions for a user to position the user's eye(s). In certainembodiments, because the iris biometric acquisition system providesvarious locations or positions for an approaching user, it may beconfusing for the user to align or position the user's eye(s) with thesystem. Accordingly, the system provides an integrated user interactionsystem to help guide or direct the user's gaze in positioning the user'seye(s) for biometric acquisition. By attracting the attention of theuser as the user approaches or positions himself/herself towards thesystem, selectively in certain preferred directions corresponding to theheight of the user, the user is efficiently and clearly guided to anoptimal or appropriate position for the user relative to the system.

Referring now to 801, and in some embodiments, a visibility limitingdevice, positioned between a user attention device and a user, limits anangular field of view of the user attention device. The visibilitylimiting device may structurally and/or optically limit the angularfield of view of the user attention device. For instance, the visibilitylimiting device may block, shield, dim, obstruct or otherwise limitlight rays from the user attention device in certain directions, andallow, pass or transmit light rays from the user attention device incertain other directions. The visibility limiting device may pass and/orblock different portions of light in different directions angled withrespect to the horizontal, for instance. The user attention device mayinclude at least one of a mirror or a graphical user interface display.The mirror include any type of reflecting or partially-reflectingsurface, and may reflect light and provide a reflected image of the userto direct the user's gaze towards the mirror, and/or to position theuser's eye relative to the mirror. The graphical user interface displaymay display an image of the user, and/or provide any type of indicationor guidance to the user to direct the user's gaze towards the mirror,and/or to position the user's eye(s) and hence iris relative to thegraphical user interface display.

The visibility limiting device may include at least one of a louver or aprivacy film. The visibility limiting device may include a plurality oflouvers in parallel with other, or oriented in a non-parallel fashion topoint towards a preferred location for positioning a user's eye. Forinstance, the plurality of louvers may be configured such that when theuser is located at a preferred or optimal position (e.g., near thebiometric acquisition device) for biometric acquisition, the pluralityof louvers provides the least or minimal obstruction to the userattention device.

In some embodiments, the angular field of view of the user attentiondevice (sometimes referred to as the mirror visibility cone or attentiondevice visibility cone) of the first subsystem and an angular field ofview of the second user attention device of the second subsystem overlapby a minimal to zero amount at an operating distance (e.g., a preferredor optimal distance from a specific location) of the iris biometricacquisition system. The operating distance may refer to a preferred orconfigured location or distance from the iris biometric acquisitionsystem (e.g., the sensor, the visibility limiting device and/or theattention device) at which an iris should be positioned for biometricacquisition.

In some embodiments, the angular field of view of the user attentiondevice, limited by the visibility limiting device, projects upwards atan angle above horizontal. This may provide that a user not see the userattention device when far, with more portions of the user attentiondevice available through the visibility limiting device when near. Anangular field of view of the sensor (sometimes referred to as the sensoror camera field of view cone) may overlap with the angular field of viewof the user attention device which is limited by the visibility limitingdevice. In some embodiments, an eye detection device of the irisbiometric acquisition system may perform eye/iris detection even beforean eye is positioned on-axis to the mirror for example. The sensor naybe positioned proximate to or at the location of the user attentiondevice so that the sensor subtends an angle to the user's eye that isless than a predetermined threshold. For instance, the sensor may belocated behind the mirror or GUI device that allows infra-red light totransmit through the visibility limiting device.

In some embodiments, the iris biometric acquisition system may include afirst subsystem that comprises the visibility limiting device, the userattention device and the sensor, and a second subsystem that comprises asecond visibility limiting device, a second user attention device and asecond sensor, among others for example. The first subsystem and thesecond subsystem are for example vertically displaced with respect toeach other to accommodate different heights of individuals. The firstsubsystem and the second subsystem may be vertically displaced withrespect to each other by between 4 inches to 12 inches, to accommodatedifferent height ranges for individuals.

Referring now to 803, and in some embodiments, the visibility limitingdevice and/or the user attention device provide guidance to the user toposition an iris of the user. One or more visibility limiting devicesand/or one or more user attention devices may provide guidance to theuser to position an iris of the user with respect to the system. As auser approaches the iris biometric acquisition system while still beingafar, the user may not detect any or much of the one or more userattention devices. As the user moves closer to the system, thevisibility limiting device selectively exposes a larger portion of afirst user attention device, to guide the user's gaze towards the firstuser attention device. In some embodiments, the same or other visibilitylimiting device(s) may selectively reduce the visibility of (e.g., bydimming or blocking) one or more other user attention devices, e.g.,located above and/or below the first user attention device, so that theuser's gaze is guided towards the first user attention device ratherthan towards these other user attention device(s).

In certain embodiments, the system may include an adjustment mechanismand/or a pivot mechanism. The adjustment mechanism may move (e.g., byoperation of the user or automatically) the user attention device andthe sensor collectively, to a first height position relative to theuser. The pivot mechanism may tilt, orient or rotate, about a horizontalaxis, the visibility limiting device, the user attention device and thesensor collectively, to a first position relative to the user. Forinstance, the system may provide a single set of visibility limitingdevice, user attention device and/or the sensor, which can be adjustedto various positions and/or locations, including heights and/ororientations, with respect to the user. One or more of these mechanismscan aid in the relative positioning of the user's eyes with the system,for biometric acquisition.

The visibility limiting device and/or the user attention device may drawor direct the gaze of the user towards the user attention deviceappropriate for the user's height. The user attention device, comprisinga mirror or GUI device for example, may provide a reflection or feedbackto the user to position and/or orient the user's eyes relative to thesystem (e.g., the user attention device and/or the sensor). Forinstance, a mirror may guide the user to position an eye so that the eyeis on-axis with respect to the mirror, e.g., the eye is reflected by themirror and visible to the user without the visibility limiting devicesubstantially blocking the visibility of the reflection. By way ofillustration, the blocking (in an on-axis or appropriate position) maybe limited to below a 5% threshold as discussed earlier, or may be setat a threshold of 2%, 8%, 10% for example. The user may adjust theuser's position so that the eye and iris is appropriately or optimallyvisible and/or on-axis (within the visibility cylinder of the userattention device) according to feedback from the user attention device.

Referring now to 805, and in some embodiments, a sensor, positionedadjacent to the visibility limiting device, acquires imagery of the irispositioned in accordance with the guidance. In some embodiments, adetection device may detect an eye and/or iris being positioned withrespect to the system. For example, the detection device may beintegrated or coupled to the sensor to detect, via acquired image(s),the eye and/or iris within the visibility or detection cone of thesensor and within an operating distance of the system (e.g., withappropriate illumination and/or determination of an appropriate sizeand/or orientation of the eye or iris). In certain embodiments, thedetection device may perform detection even before the eye and/or irisare positioned on-axis to the user attention device (e.g., on-axis tothe mirror). For instance, the visibility or detection cone of thesensor may be configured to be sufficiently wide to allow detection evenbefore the eye and/or iris are located within a visibility cone or avisibility cylinder of the user attention device or mirror. Responsiveto the detection, the system may adjust illumination for the eye and/orfeedback or guidance provided via the user attention device. Responsiveto detection of the eye and/or iris, e.g., within the visibility ordetection cone of the sensor, within an operating distance of thesystem, and/or within a visibility cylinder of the user attentiondevice, the sensor may acquire imagery or biometric information of theiris.

It should be noted that certain passages of this disclosure canreference terms such as “first” and “second” in connection with devices(e.g., sensors, cameras, iris recognition modules), images, etc., forpurposes of identifying or differentiating one from another or fromothers. These terms are not intended to merely relate entities (e.g., afirst image and a second image) temporally or according to a sequence,although in some cases, these entities can include such a relationship.Nor do these terms limit the number of possible entities (e.g., sensorsor devices) that can operate within a system or environment.

While various inventive embodiments have been described and illustratedherein, those of ordinary skill in the art will readily envision avariety of other means and/or structures for performing the functionand/or obtaining the results and/or one or more of the advantagesdescribed herein, and each of such variations and/or modifications isdeemed to be within the scope of the inventive embodiments describedherein. More generally, those skilled in the art will readily appreciatethat all parameters, dimensions, materials, and configurations describedherein are meant to be exemplary and that the actual parameters,dimensions, materials, and/or configurations will depend upon thespecific application or applications for which the inventive teachingsis/are used. Those skilled in the art will recognize, or be able toascertain using no more than routine experimentation, many equivalentsto the specific inventive embodiments described herein. It is,therefore, to be understood that the foregoing embodiments are presentedby way of example only and that, within the scope of the appended claimsand equivalents thereto, inventive embodiments may be practicedotherwise than as specifically described and claimed. Inventiveembodiments of the present disclosure are directed to each individualfeature, system, article, material, kit, and/or method described herein.In addition, any combination of two or more such features, systems,articles, materials, kits, and/or methods, if such features, systems,articles, materials, kits, and/or methods are not mutually inconsistent,is included within the inventive scope of the present disclosure.

The above-described embodiments can be implemented in any of numerousways. For example, the embodiments may be implemented using hardware, ora combination hardware and software, using embodiments of elementsdescribed in FIGS. 1A-1C for instance. When implemented in software, thesoftware code can be executed on any suitable processor or collection ofprocessors, whether provided in a single computer or distributed amongmultiple computers.

The various methods or processes outlined herein may be coded assoftware that is executable on one or more processors that employ anyone of a variety of operating systems or platforms. Additionally, suchsoftware may be written using any of a number of suitable programminglanguages and/or programming or scripting tools, and also may becompiled as executable machine language code or intermediate code thatis executed on a framework or virtual machine. In this respect, variousinventive concepts may be embodied as a computer readable storage medium(or multiple computer readable storage media) (e.g., a computer memory,one or more floppy discs, compact discs, optical discs, magnetic tapes,flash memories, circuit configurations in Field Programmable Gate Arraysor other semiconductor devices, or other non-transitory medium ortangible computer storage medium) encoded with one or more programsthat, when executed on one or more computers or other processors,perform methods that implement the various embodiments of the inventiondiscussed above. The computer readable medium or media can betransportable, such that the program or programs stored thereon can beloaded onto one or more different computers or other processors toimplement various aspects of the present invention as discussed above.

The terms “program” or “software” are used herein in a generic sense torefer to any type of computer code or set of computer-executableinstructions that can be employed to program a computer or otherprocessor to implement various aspects of embodiments as discussedabove. Additionally, it should be appreciated that according to oneaspect, one or more computer programs that when executed perform methodsof the present invention need not reside on a single computer orprocessor, but may be distributed in a modular fashion amongst a numberof different computers or processors to implement various aspects of thepresent invention.

Computer-executable instructions may be in many forms, such as programmodules, executed by one or more computers or other devices. Generally,program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, datastructures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particularabstract data types. Typically the functionality of the program modulesmay be combined or distributed as desired in various embodiments.

Also, data structures may be stored in computer-readable media in anysuitable form. For simplicity of illustration, data structures may beshown to have fields that are related through location in the datastructure. Such relationships may likewise be achieved by assigningstorage for the fields with locations in a computer-readable medium thatconvey relationship between the fields. However, any suitable mechanismmay be used to establish a relationship between information in fields ofa data structure, including through the use of pointers, tags or othermechanisms that establish relationship between data elements.

Various embodiments described herein are to be understood in both openand closed terms. In particular, additional features that are notexpressly recited for an embodiment may fall within the scope of acorresponding claim, or can be expressly disclaimed (e.g., excluded bynegative claim language), depending on the specific language recited ina given claim.

Unless otherwise stated, any first range explicitly specified also mayinclude or refer to one or more smaller inclusive second ranges, eachsecond range having a variety of possible endpoints that fall within thefirst range. For example, if a first range of 3 dB<X<1 0 dB isspecified, this also specifies, at least by inference, 4 dB<X<9 dB, 4.2dB<X<8.7 dB, and the like.

Also, various inventive concepts may be embodied as one or more methods,of which an example has been provided. The acts performed as part of themethod may be ordered in any suitable way. Accordingly, embodiments maybe constructed in which acts arc performed in an order different thanillustrated, which may include performing some acts simultaneously, eventhough shown as sequential acts in illustrative embodiments.

All definitions, as defined and used herein, should be understood tocontrol over dictionary definitions, definitions in documentsincorporated by reference, and/or ordinary meanings of the definedterms.

The indefinite articles “a” and “an,” as used herein in thespecification and in the claims, unless clearly indicated to thecontrary, should be understood to mean “at least one.”

The phrase “and/or,” as used herein in the specification and in theclaims, should be understood to mean “either or both” of the elements soconjoined, i.e., elements that are conjunctively present in some casesand disjunctively present in other cases. Multiple elements listed with“and/or” should be construed in the same fashion, i.e., “one or more” ofthe elements so conjoined. Other elements may optionally be presentother than the elements specifically identified by the “and/or” clause,whether related or unrelated to those elements specifically identified.Thus, as a non-limiting example, a reference to “A and/or B”, when usedin conjunction with open-ended language such as “comprising” can refer,in one embodiment, to A only (optionally including elements other thanB); in another embodiment, to B only (optionally including elementsother than A);in yet another embodiment, to both A and B (optionallyincluding other elements); etc.

As used herein in the specification and in the claims, “or” should beunderstood to have the same meaning as “and/or” as defined above. Forexample, when separating items in a list, “or” or “and/or” shall beinterpreted as being inclusive, i.e., the inclusion of at least one, butalso including more than one, of a number or list of elements, and,optionally, additional unlisted items. Only terms clearly indicated tothe contrary, such as “only one of” or “exactly one of,” or, when usedin the claims, “consisting of,” will refer to the inclusion of exactlyone element of a number or list of elements. In general, the term “or”as used herein shall only be interpreted as indicating exclusivealternatives (i.e. “one or the other but not both”) when preceded byterms of exclusivity, such as “either,” “one of,” “only one of,” or“exactly one of ” “consisting essentially of,” when used in the claims,shall have its ordinary meaning as used in the field of patent law.

As used herein in the specification and in the claims, the phrase “atleast one,” in reference to a list of one or more elements, should beunderstood to mean at least one element selected from any one or more ofthe elements in the list of elements, but not necessarily including atleast one of each and every element specifically listed within the listof elements and not excluding any combinations of elements in the listof elements. This definition also allows that elements may optionally bepresent other than the elements specifically identified within the listof elements to which the phrase “at least one” refers, whether relatedor unrelated to those elements specifically identified. Thus, as anon-limiting example, “at least one of A and B” (or, equivalently, “atleast one of A or B,” or, equivalently “at least one of A and/or B”) canrefer, in one embodiment, to at least one, optionally including morethan one, A, with no B present (and optionally including elements otherthan B); in another embodiment, to at least one, optionally includingmore than one, B, with no A present (and optionally including elementsother than A); in yet another embodiment, to at least one, optionallyincluding more than one, A, and at least one, optionally including morethan one, B (and optionally including other elements); etc.

In the claims, as well as in the specification above, all transitionalphrases such as “comprising,” “including,” “carrying,” “having,”“containing,” “involving,” “holding,” “composed of,” and the like are tobe understood to be open-ended, i.e., to mean including but not limitedto. Only the transitional phrases “consisting of” and “consistingessentially of ” shall be closed or semi-closed transitional phrases,respectively, as set forth in the United States Patent Office Manual ofPatent Examining Procedures, Section 2111.03.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for directing a gaze of a user forbiometric acquisition, the system comprising: a visibility limitingdevice configured to limit an angular field of view of locations behindthe visibility limiting device, the visibility limiting devicecomprising a plurality of louvers oriented non-parallel to each othertowards a first location to align a user's gaze towards the firstlocation when the user is at a preferred distance from the visibilitylimiting device; and a sensor positioned relative to the visibilitylimiting device, the sensor configured to acquire a biometric image ofthe user positioned using the visibility limiting device.
 2. The systemof claim 1, further comprising a user attention device located behindthe visibility limiting device.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein thevisibility limiting device includes a privacy film.
 4. The system ofclaim 1, comprising a first subsystem and a second subsystem, the firstsubsystem comprising the visibility limiting device, a user attentiondevice located behind the visibility limiting device, and the sensor,and the second subsystem comprising a second visibility limiting device,a second user attention device located behind the second visibilitylimiting device, and a second sensor.
 5. The system of claim 4, whereinthe first subsystem and the second subsystem are spatially displacedwith respect to each other to accommodate different users.
 6. The systemof claim 4, wherein the first subsystem and the second subsystem arespatially displaced with respect to each other by between 4 inches to 12inches.
 7. The system of claim 4, wherein an angular field of view ofthe user attention device of the first subsystem and an angular field ofview of the second user attention device of the second subsystem overlapby a minimal to zero amount when the user is located at an operatingdistance of the iris biometric acquisition system.
 8. The system ofclaim 2, comprising an adjustment mechanism for collectively moving thevisibility limiting device, the user attention device and the sensor todifferent positions or locations.
 9. The system of claim 2, comprising apivot mechanism for collectively tilting or rotating the visibilitylimiting device, the user attention device and the sensor to differentrelative positions about an axis.
 10. The system of claim 1, wherein theangular field of view of the locations is configured to project upwardsat an angle above horizontal.
 11. The system of claim 1, wherein anangular field of view of the sensor overlaps with the angular field ofview of the locations.
 12. The system of claim 2, wherein the userattention device comprises at least one of a mirror or a graphical userinterface display.
 13. A method for directing a gaze of a user forbiometric acquisition, the method comprising: limiting, by a visibilitylimiting device, an angular field of view of locations behind thevisibility limiting device; providing, by the visibility limitingdevice, guidance to a user to position the user in accordance with thelimited angular field of view, the visibility limiting device comprisinga plurality of louvers oriented non-parallel to each other towards afirst location to align a user's gaze towards the first location whenthe user is at a preferred distance from the visibility limiting device;and acquiring, by a sensor positioned relative to the visibilitylimiting device, a biometric image of the user positioned using theprovided guidance.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein providing theguidance to the user further comprises providing the guidance using auser attention device located behind the visibility limiting device. 15.The method of claim 14, wherein the user attention device includes atleast one of a mirror or a graphical user interface display.
 16. Themethod of claim 13, wherein the visibility limiting device includes aprivacy film.
 17. The method of claim 13, further comprising moving, byan adjustment mechanism, the visibility limiting device, a userattention device located behind the visibility limiting device, and thesensor collectively, to a first position relative to the user.
 18. Themethod of claim 13, further comprising tilting or rotating, by a pivotmechanism about an axis, the visibility limiting device, a userattention device located behind the visibility limiting device, and thesensor collectively, to a first position relative to the user.
 19. Themethod of claim 13, wherein the visibility limiting device, a userattention device located behind the visibility limiting device, and thesensor are arranged as a first subsystem, and a second subsystemcomprises a second visibility limiting device, a second user attentiondevice located behind the second visibility limiting device, and asecond sensor.
 20. The method of claim 19, providing the first subsystemand the second subsystem spatially displaced with respect to each otherby between 4 inches to 12 inches.